Extruding Plastic Foams to Meet Today’s Market Needs

Penetration of plastic foams into new markets continues to increase due to their favorable characteristics: lightweight, thermal and sound insulation, shock absorption… It’s time to upgrade to the evolving foam extrusion practices to stay in the game! Join this course and:

1. Get a deeper understanding of the foam extrusion process – main parameters and how they influence properties of the final foam product, how to control open and closed cells...


2. Learn how to tweak your foam extrusion process (temperature profile, die pressure, formulation conditions, raw material choice, downstream processing, equipment…)


3. Efficiently troubleshoot foaming issues like cell collapse, cell coalescence, cell orientation, anisotropy, and post-processing foam instability.

• R&D people turning to foaming process to reduce weight (automotive, packaging…) and looking meet new demands in traditional applications: heat / thermal insulation, electrical insulation


• Developers of plastics foam needing to troubleshoot foaming issues.

1. Foam Extrusion technologies: Which one to choose when?
   • Physical foaming
   • Chemical foaming


2. Today’s Requirements & Challenges (improved performance to fit with new demands)


3. How do latest End-requirements translate into Foam Characteristics
   • Open / closed cell structure
   • Cell homogeneity
   • Mechanical vs. Density
   • Cell size and orientation


4. How to achieve the desired Foam Characteristics in Practice:
   • Selecting the right raw material (foaming agents, suitable resins…)
   • Making adjustments in formulation & processing conditions


5. Troubleshooting common processing issues:
   • Cell collapse
   • Cell coalescence
   • Cell density
   • Anisotropy
   • Post-processing foam instability / Uncontrolled foam structure


6. Trends in plastic foams (nano-foams, special additives & fillers…)


7. 30 Mins Q&A session- ask your questions directly to the expert !